Barracuda

[Pav]

Never fancied these before (they look too much like a freshwater Pike to me!). Was advised by a local whilst on holiday they were good eating and unlike a lot of the other fish on the fish counter were not farmed.

Took one and loved it! Good fish. White, firm flesh and bones are large so easy to eat. Nasty looking teeth however so not sure I would fancy having an angry one on the end of a spear!

Never see them on the UK fish counters, although I expect some exotic fish counter will have them. With exotic fish finding there way to our shores will we ever see them in our waters??

I do remember reading somehwere a warning about eating the larger fish?

 

[devondave]

You can buy them in Billingsgate, and pike.
Small pike, about 1kg, are good to eat but a bit bony.
Never eaten a big barracuda but agree the smaller ones are delicious.

Regards,
Dave.

 

[Old Man Dave]

Big barracuda are supposed to be one of the worse fish for giving you ciguatera poisoning [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciguatera]Ciguatera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] .

Dave.

 

[foxfish]

I have never eaten one because of the ciguatera poisoning threat but I dont know how risky it would actually be?

 

[agbiv]

Most of the info I have on ciguatara poisoning is that the large preditors around warm water coral reefs get the toxin in their system from eating small prey that feed on the coral and the big fish get a high build up - like mercury. I know lots of folks who eat them off the Texas Gulf rigs.

 

[Don Paul]

In french poly one can not bring to market Barracuda over 1 meter.
Because of the Cig.
Cheers, Don Paul

 

[willloomy]

Almost every fish in tropical waters have cig. the toxin is created by tiny algae called dinoflagellates, the dinoflagellates are eaten by the herbivores and the cig is in their meat however it is in very small concentrations the herbivores (or primary consumers) are eaten by predator fish (secondary consumers) the toxin is then moved into the secondary consumer. This occurs until it reaches the top consumers this process is called biological magnification and it applies to many situations (mercury/plastic poisoning).
the main factors are location and diet of fish, smaller doesn't always mean safe. areas that experience eutrophication are more likely to support the dinoflagellates that produce ciguatera.
Im not positive but I believe that (colder) northern waters are pretty safe.

on a different note i have eaten smaller barracuda and it is quite good

 

[spaghetti]

Ciguatera does not affect European waters, so far, praise the Lord.
We spear cuda's and eat them in the Med. I've been swimming in very huge schools of hundreds of them in Siciliy, and found smaller groups nearly everywhere in the upper/western mediterranean.

Bear in mind there are different species of barracudas around the world. In the Mediterranean we have mostly sphyraena sphiraena (the indigenous smaller cuda) and sphyraena vidridensis (more common in the central-eastern Atlantic and less in the Med). None of these two species is ever affected by ciguatera (not reportedly).

What we don't have here is the greater sphyraena barracuda, whose population is located in ciguatera infested areas but not here.
If you hunt in the Med just shoot, gut and grill: they're the good type.

 

[Salehthefish]

New Info!!! Thanks for sharing but is this Ciguatera in UAE as well? is there any Map showing where is it located? Is it affecting barracuda only?

 

[Cozumel]

Over here we test Barracuda (but also greater Amberjack and Grouper) by chewing on the liver for a minute. If the taste stays sweet, no ciguera.
Mostly we cut them into steaks.

 

[willloomy]

unfortunatle there are no reliably tests for cig perhaps the most reliable is a test kit called cigua check but it is expensive, the taste is not a reliable check

 

[spaghetti]

is there any Map showing where is it located? Is it affecting barracuda only?

it says it affects 400 species of fish, mostly reef bentonic species rather than pelagics, in tropical and subtropical environments.
Map in attachment below: check the yellow spots for endemic ciguatera areas.

 

[Salehthefish]

hi Spaghetti and thanks for you and everyone for this topic first time i know about it...

Wish cleaner and better sea for all the people...

 

[Old Man Dave]

I seem to remember that one of the main problems with cig is that It is not killed off by heat. So cooking the fish really thoroughly doesn't effect it and it remains poisonous.

Dave

 

[agbiv]

Absolutley right on not cooking off. Heat does not remove or lessen the toxic effects,

 

[Old Man Dave]

Just seen this thread about cig in an imported species which ties in nicely with this thread http://forums.deeperblue.com/hawaii/82619-kill-roi-days.html .

Dave.

 

[willloomy]

it does i have participated in a number of those, however cig is not an introduced problem (as far as we know) the main problems with roi are that they eat the juveniles of our native fish and that the compete with native species for food. it is just the nature of these groupers to be ciguatoxic because of there diet, location ect.
aloha, Will

 

[Pav]

Facinating topic. Thanks for the insight.
What does puzzle me however is how these fish cope with the poison themselves? Surely understanding that would offer a remedy to anyone who suffers from the poisoning?

Marine biologist anyone??

 

[Captain Ron]

I'm sorry but there are too many fish in the sea that I would rather eat. Here in the tropics there is a REAL GOOD chance of getting ciguatera from any size barracuda. They don't smell particularly appetizing either, which, I know is a function of the slime coat and not the flesh itself, but still. That stink is what makes then excellent chum for sharks btw. One more note. If you are shooting one with a speargun, you better hit it solid or miss completely. If you hurt it, it's going to come back to discuss the issue with you, or, if you're lucky, just your speargun.

 

[Captain Ron]

::Marine Biologist waves his hand::
Ciguatera isnt toxic to any cold blooded animals. The toxins that are secreted by the flagellates slowly build up over time in their tissues, as they do in warm blooded animals. The problem is that to US they are toxic. This is also why a person that has had ciguatera is prone to get it again as there are permanent background levels of the toxin already in their tissues. As willomy said, its called biomagnification So the chances are that anyone who regularly eats large reef predator fish, already had some background levels of the toxin in them. I know i probably do. Anyhow, the point is the higher up the food chain a predator is the more likely it is to have eaten other predatory fish as well as the coral and algae eaters, which is where fish pick up the dinoflagellate, Gambierdiscus toxicus in particular, in the first place. As far as I am concerned Mr Barracuda and I coexist as top end predators. Probably not smart for either of us to eat the other, and so far old Barry has been respectful of my person. Though not always of my catch...